Jazz has been evolving for over a century, and in the process, it’s become a unique sound that few other musicians can replicate. The music we listen to today-whether in pop, rock, or alternative-can be traced back to jazz. It shapes our music from the very beginning because it predates so many modern-day styles.
The History of Jazz
Jazz is a subgenre of American music that started as ragtime but evolved into something much more. Jazz was born in the rural south, played by African Americans who were segregated from most other types of music at the time. The style is most popularly recognized for improvisation – taking the typical form of a song and changing it with an individual musician’s interpretation.
The birth of jazz can be traced back to New Orleans at the beginning of the 19th century, where many different cultures blended to create what we think of today as jazz. This included African rhythms, marching beats, and European musical traditions.
The New Orleans jazz scene was the birthplace of many popular jazz standards like “What a Wonderful World” by Louis Armstrong. It was also home to musicians like Jelly Roll Morton, whose work partially inspired big band swing music that came after it. Back then, you didn’t need to have musical education and notes were highly improvised – today, you can find Jazz trumpet sheet music online. Eventually, this type of music found its way into recording studios where Tin Pan Alley producers would record pop songs with jazz elements in them. By the 1930s, artists were mostly creating their own compositions instead of improvising on chord changes in someone else’s song.
Ragtime vs Jazz
There are some similarities between ragtime and early jazz -both styles used syncopation in their compositions- but they are very different musically. Ragtime is primarily piano-based and has more of a “one gone, two gone” form whereas Jazz was primarily performed using brass instruments and drums.
Ragtime also tended to sound almost robotic because the same melody would be repeated several times (or perhaps even with slight variations). Jazz musicians preferred to blend melodies and improvise on the spot, making every performance unique from the last.
The Birth of Swing
Swing music was created by jazz musicians as they branched off into big bands – which used woodwinds instead of just brass, giving it a lighter sound than earlier jazz. The addition of saxophones gave swing its own unique identity as well as allowed for improvisation between different sections. This new sound was first called “swing” by audiences who enjoyed the upbeat tunes.
Big band swing music is characterized by its four beats to the measure; the emphasis is on the first beat, then it falls on the second and third beats, before finally emphasizing the fourth beat. These rhythms are typically accented by using instruments like drums, horns, or guitars. Swing music typically had a faster tempo than jazz – meaning more notes were played in a shorter amount of time. It was also highly inspired by African American dance styles. As a result, it’s often seen being performed by jazz bands in addition to the classic big band line-up.
The Birth of Bebop
Bebop was a style of jazz developed in the early 1940s that became a precursor to modern jazz and West Coast Jazz. It was a departure from earlier forms of jazz that typically used songs written in the Tin Pan Alley style.
There are many different theories as to what “bop” actually stands for – it could mean “beyond category” or simply be an onomatopoeia for the sound of the music itself. As time went on, it started being used to refer specifically to this type of jazz.
Bebop was first played by Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie, who were two of the most well-known musicians that performed it. They felt that big band swing had become outdated, so they created a new sound where the emphasis wasn’t on danceable rhythms but instead on melodic content. They wanted to keep the upbeat tempo but change the style of songwriting to something more complex. As a result, many bebop songs are characterized by dissonant chords and long sequences of notes that may even seem atonal – this type of sound was not typical in earlier jazz styles.
Types of Jazz
There are many different types of jazz – some influenced by other genres like rock and roll and blues, and others by other kinds of music from around the world. For example:
- Cool Jazz is a style of jazz distinguished by its relaxed tempos that were popular in the late 1940s. These songs are typically slower than other jazz styles, which allow for improvisation and a more relaxed atmosphere.
- Fusion is a style of jazz with elements from other genres like rock, funk, hip-hop, and even soul music in some cases. It became popular during the 1970s when it was used to describe popular jazz songs with rock instrumentation.
- Electro is a more modern form of fusion that uses electronic sounds in live performances of genres like funk and soul. It became popular during the 1980s.
- Avant-garde is an experimental style originally created by John Coltrane that isn’t confined to a specific set of chords or rhythms. Its improvisation is similar to free jazz and it typically has “mistakes” that give the sound more character.
- Modal Jazz is characterized by its use of modes (or scales) instead of standard chords like major and minor. It was pioneered by Miles Davis during the 1950s, though it became more popular during the 1960s.
The Influence on Modern Music
Modern pop, rock, and alternative genres can all be traced back to jazz. Many popular recording artists have at least some influence from jazz-whether it’s through improvisation, song structures, or even instruments.
Though jazz is a unique and eclectic genre on its own, it has evolved over the years to become a foundation for some of today’s most popular music. For example, blues, soul, and funk all found their roots in jazz and the improvisation used by these styles of music can be traced back to jazz’s early days.
Jazz shapes our music from the very beginning because it predates so many modern-day styles-including pop, rock, or alternative. These types of music may not seem to have anything in common with jazz at first glance, but they can all be traced back to its influence. This uniqueness of jazz is what makes it so great-it’s not confined to one set of chords or rhythm, but instead built around improvisation and creative expression. It has allowed for more creative types of music to emerge – an escape from the conservative rules that typically define other genres.
